The Tangled Web We Weave
by splitseconddecision
Summary: abandoned.
1. Prologue

The Tangled Web We Weave 

Prologue

~*~*~*~

            Usagi drummed her fingers on the desk as she lazily paged through her history textbook, invoking the wrath of one Rei Hino, who was trying to study. Ami could tell that Rei was quickly becoming irritated by the way her eye twitched at every tap of Usagi's fingers. Ami reached towards Usagi's hand to stop her from fueling Rei's inevitable explosion.

            Unfortunately, the word "inevitable" in the previous sentence lived up to its definition.

            "QUIT DRUMMING YOUR FINGERS, ODANGO ATAMA!" Rei yelled, startling Usagi out of her reverie.

            "You don't have to be so mean, Rei-chan!" Usagi whined, pouting as she closed the thick history book with an audible thump.

            "No, I don't, not if you quit being so annoying!"

            "How can I tell if I'm being annoying, I'm not a mind reader like _some people we know_!" Usagi replied, poking her finger at Rei's chest with each stressed syllable.

            "I'm a miko, not a mind reader, and maybe if you got your odango-ed head out of the clouds for a while, you'd know the difference and possibly develop the skills to recognize an annoyance when you're performing it!"

            Ami shot a pleading look to Minako, who was lying on Rei's bed reading manga. Minako shrugged and grinned sheepishly; even after at least fifty similar quarrels, the other three girls still had not found a sure-fire way to stop Usagi and Rei from arguing.

            Makoto the fifth and final member of the small study group, rolled her eyes and reached for the final cookie on the plate in the middle of the table. This action, typically, caught Usagi's eye.

            "Oi, Mako-chan! I already claimed the last cookie!" Usagi cried, diving at said cookie.

            "You're so greedy, Odango! Pretty soon you're going to get an odango-shaped body to go with that hairstyle of yours!" Rei snapped, swiping the cookie from Usagi's grasp.

            "You're so mean! And give me back my cookie!"

            As this incessant bickering continued, elsewhere something strange was occurring.

            Destiny was lying around Eternity, bored of playing with mortal's lives. After all, the novelty of that weaving kit Father Time had given her could only last for so long before she got frustrated with it.

            She glared at the unfinished tapestry she had been weaving with utter distaste. What had she been thinking? True love and innocent princesses?

            Then again, she had been only five hundred when she started that tapestry— childish dreams had still been dancing around her head.

            "Well, back to the drawing board," she muttered to herself, removing the tapestry from the loom and placing it gently on the ground. She then turned to the loom, stared at it for a moment, and began to cut new strings.

            As she weaved them together, she didn't notice her baby sister, Chance, sneak into the room and start tugging at the neglected tapestry.

            Chance, being only a few centuries old (an infant by immortal standards), liked to tie knots. And lo and behold, here were a bunch of strings! She especially liked the silver one in the middle of the tapestry.

            Smiling in the cute, innocent way that only babies can, Chance tugged on the silver string. And tugged, and tugged again until it came loose. There! Now all she needed was something to tie it with…

            Sissy had strings. She was tying them together happily, whistling as the thing in front of her made clacking noises and ate the string up. Chance decided that she would help sissy. After all, green and brown and blue string was boring all by itself; it needed the silver string!

            Unnoticed by Destiny, Chance began weaving the silver string all through the dull-colored strings, tying the kind of knot that only small children can achieve: long, intricate, and difficult to undo.

            Chance gurgled happily, eager to show her older sister what she had done to help. Sissy, however, was more concerned with Chance than with the pretty strings.

            "Chance! What are you doing here? You could mess up some mortals' lives so easily in here! Ugh, Mother Nature must be sleeping again, to let you wander around like this! Come on, Chance, let's go see mama!" Destiny said, scooping Chance up and walking out of the room.

            The loom continued clacking, weaving the strings in the intricate, preset pattern.

            Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the silver string was weaved in with it.

~*~

            "Why can't you just leave me alone, Rei-chan, it's not as if you rule my—"

            The girls stared at the spot where Usagi had once been, slack jawed. It was not everyday your princess, charge, and best friend disappeared without a trace, so their obvious dismay was not surprising.

            "What," Minako began, "the _hell_ just happened?"

            "Don't swear, Mina-chan," Ami said weakly, striving for normalcy. "Rei-chan, please do a fire reading, see if you can find anything. I will search for her energy signature on my Mercury computer. Mina-chan, Mako-chan, could you please find Mamoru-kun and the Outers and inform them of the situation?"

            It was so rare that the blue-haired genius took charge that everyone obeyed immediately.

            Either that, or it was the total shock of seeing someone vanish before their very eyes with no warning whatsoever.

~*~

            "—life, or anythi… Rei-chan?"

Usagi wasn't having a much better time. In truth, most would probably consider it a great deal worse than what the girls back home were going through. Unless, that is, you were the outdoorsy type or completely insane, in which case you would be right at home in the forest that Usagi suddenly found herself in.

Since our heroine was neither outdoorsy nor insane, and was in actuality quite the drama queen and crybaby, she was utterly distraught. Case point being illustrated by the fact that she immediately burst into tears once she realized that this was too elaborate a practical joke for Minako to have pulled off.

Well, believe you me, crying for hours on end is definitely not the most pleasant or productive experience, which is why Usagi stopped wailing after 85 minutes straight. She was getting a massive headache, and crying was not actually attracting help. Sniffling, she stood, looking around for a few moments before picking a direction, in which she set off.

As she walked, it became obvious that night was approaching: it became harder to see, and Usagi was exhausted.

"I'd better go to sleep," Usagi muttered to herself. She had taken to talking aloud on her hike, if only for the comfort of the sound of her own voice.

Wearily, she sat down by a tree, her back resting uncomfortably on the rough bark. It was not the most comfortable of positions, but it would do for now.

Usagi promptly fell asleep, waking only when a small group of little people stumbled over her.

"Ouch!"

"Sh, Pip!"

"I can't help it if I hurt myself when I tripped!"

"Pippin, shut up!"

"Both of you shut up!"

"What did we trip over, Mister Frodo?"

"I think it's a human…"

~*~*~*~

There is my prologue, review if you like it!

I don't own Sailormoon or LotR, but I do own Destiny, Chance, and the idea of Eternity. I also own the plot and prose, please do not steal it.

I will do my best to stay true to Usagi's character, but some of you may consider her ditzy-ness to be a bit extreme in this installment. Just realize, she has been dropped into the middle of another world for no specified reason, and is quite shaken. She will mature in later chapters, make no mistake.

Please keep in mind that though this is not a Mamoru hate-fic, Usagi will not end up with Mamoru, nor will one of the Senshi.

'Til next time, y'all.

~SA2-chan


	2. Chapter 1

The Tangled Web We Weave 

Chapter One

Warning: profanity

~*~*~*~

            The village of Bree was quiet, as usual. That is, unless you included the various inns and pubs that dotted the village. Inside the Prancing Pony, three hobbits pondered about the girl that lay asleep in one of the beds upstairs.

            Frodo Baggins looked around warily, before shooting a glance to Mr. Barliman Butterbur, the innkeeper, who was currently greeting customers as they entered, eagerly anticipating a night of beer-guzzling and drunken singing.

            "What do you think of her, Mister Frodo?" Sam Gamgee asked, referring, of course, to the young human girl they hand stumbled upon (literally) after crossing the Brandywine River on the Buckleberry Ferry. Frodo considered the question for a moment before answering hesitantly.

            "I… don't really know, Sam. I just don't know. My brain tells me to be careful of anyone we meet, at least until I get rid of this,"— he gestured to his collar, which hid the ring on the chain— "but my heart tells me that she can be trusted."

            There was silence for a moment, and then—

            "Get out of my way." The trio— Frodo, Sam, and Peregrin Took (known as Pippin)— turned to see the fourth and final member of their traveling party, dodge around a big man who was headed straight for the bar. Meridoc Brandybuck was carrying a large glass brimming with beer, which he set ceremoniously on the table.

            "What's that?" Pippin breathed reverently, eyes wide as Merry took a sip of the brew.

            "This, my friend, is a pint," Merry replied proudly. Pippin stared.

            "They come in pints?" he asked, looking dumbstruck. He then took on a determined expression and rose from the table. "I'm getting one!"

~*~

            It wasn't pink. It wasn't lacy. Therefore, Usagi came to the conclusion the the coverlet she was currently sleeping under was not hers. She sat up and threw it off immediately, as if it had burned her. She soon regretted it, however, when the cool night air barraged her skin, which, as she was wearing only her school uniform that was slightly ragged from her hike in the woods, was mostly exposed.

            It took her a moment to replay what had happened, and slightly longer to process it.

            She had been arguing with Rei, that much she knew, but then she had suddenly been… elsewhere, in a large forest. She had hiked for most of the day, and had fallen asleep against a tree. Not long after, she had been awoken by one of those little men tripping over her.

            If she remembered correctly, those little men had introduced themselves as hobbits, or halflings: Frodo Bag-Underhill (that's what Usagi had heard, though she was smart enough to perceive that it was a slip-up, and would look into it later), Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck. Usagi had heard of halflings once. That had been when Minako was going through her computer game craze, and had bought just about every fantasy RPG there was.

            Usagi shook her head to clear her mind of the memory of playing video games with Minako. After all, she was far away from home, with no way of getting back, and it was most certainly _not_ the time to fall into one of her daydreams.

            The hobbits had then dragged her along with them, saying it was too dangerous to be outside, what with the things chasing the hobbits, and all. Whatever _they_ were. It had started pouring with rain about two minutes after they started off, and Usagi had conveniently blacked out.

            _Thus_, Usagi deduced, _I must be in Bree, which is, after all, where they had said they were headed._

            In the corner of the room, Usagi spotted some clothes. Nice, dry, sturdy clothes. _Warm_ clothes. She stumbled out of bed and changed quickly, sending silent thanks to whoever had put these out for her.

            She walked tentatively downstairs, where the cheerful noise of the common room grew louder. As she walked past various rooms, she heard voices. Ever curious as the kitten Haruka nicknamed her for, Usagi, put her ear to the door where the voices were coming from.

            "…That is no trinket you carry."

            "I carry nothing." Was that… Frodo? She had only known the hobbit for… well… less than a day, but his voice was already familiar. Usagi strained to hear more of the conversation, not noticing when Sam, Pippin, and Merry appeared at the end of the hall and began making their way towards her.

            "Indeed," the first person said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I can avoid being seen if I wish. But to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift." Usagi blinked. Disappear…?

            "Who are you?"

            "Are you frightened?" _No fair answering a question with a question!_ Usagi protested mentally, frowning. She wanted to know who this person was as well.

            "Yes."

            "Not nearly enough," the stranger countered. "I know what hunts you." Usagi focused. Now this was information she could use! Before she could hear the information, however, she was pushed out of the way by three angry hobbits. Sam slammed the door open and burst into the room, fists raised to fight.

            "Let him go!" Sam cried. The stranger, a human with stringy brown hair and a beard, drew his sword.

            "You have a stout heart, little hobbit," he said to Sam, "but that will not save you." He turned back to Frodo. "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo. They're coming."

            "What's coming?" Usagi asked, pushing herself off of the floor and sending a glare to Sam, Merry, and Pippin for pushing her down. "What's going on here?" Silence greeted her question, as all five occupants stared at her, as if just remembering she was there. Well, Frodo and the stranger hadn't know she was there, but Pippin, Merry, and Sam had.

            "I think," the stranger said, "that we all have some explaining to do. First, who are you, my lady?"

            "I'm Usagi Tsukino. Who're you?" she asked, relaxing slightly. This guy didn't seem so bad, and the hobbits had taken her to Bree.

            "I'm known as Strider in these parts. I'm a ranger."

            "Uh…huh," Usagi replied hesitantly. What in the world was a ranger? Deciding that she would find out later, she turned to Frodo with her earlier question. "And who are you? I may not be a genius, but I'm sure that your name isn't Frodo Bag-Underhill, as you introduced yourself when we met."

            "My name is Frodo Baggins, but that's supposed to be a secret."

            "Okay, and what's all this about things hunting you, and about you disappearing and all that?" Usagi asked. Strider raised an eyebrow.

            "You've been eavesdropping," he commented. Usagi blushed. "Tell me, Miss Tsukino. Why should we tell you anything? It concerns you not. For all we know, you could be a spy for Mordor."

            "Look, I don't know who this Mordor person is, so how could I be a spy for him… her… it… whatever! One minute I'm arguing with Rei-chan and the next minute I'm in the middle of a forest! So you—" She was cut off by a loud, high pitched screeching. The hobbits and humans rushed to the window in time to see a group of figures swathed in black robes mount their dark horses.

            "What are they?" Frodo whispered, horrified.

            "They were once men. Great kings of men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine Rings of Power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will. They are the Nazgul, Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Ring. Drawn to the power of the One. They will never stop hunting you," Strider said darkly, scowling as the figures— the Nazgul— rode off into the night.

            Usagi shuddered. "They— they were humans?" she asked, shaken. Strider caught her eye with his and held them.

            "Yes. Like you or me."

            "Oh… my…" Usagi murmured, sitting down in the nearest chair.

~*~

            Destiny sighed, relieved, having finally gotten her little sister out of her hair. Chance was cute, and all, but she was a pain to take care of. Destiny finally reached the door to her room, and could hear the clacking of the loom as it continued to weave the new tapestry. She was rather proud of this new tapestry. It told a dark story… one about a ring. Middle Earth, she called the place, and was quite content with the way things were playing out. She opened the door, closing her eyes as she breathed deeply the pine aroma that was unique to her room.

            She opened her eyes to see her new tapestry in tangles, part of the silver string from her earlier tapestry knotted deeply into the new one. Destiny could only think of one word to say in this situation.

            "Shit."

~*~

            Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or Hikawa Shrine, whichever), the Sailor Senshi and Mamoru were scurrying around like rabid squirrels, trying to figure out what to do about Usagi's disappearance.

            "Did you find anything yet, Ami?" Makoto asked, poking her head into the room where the blue-haired genius was currently typing away on the Mercury mini-computer. Ami, not looking up, shook her head.

            "It seems as if she's disappeared from this system all together. We might try the Kinmoku system, but I think Kakyuu-hime would have given us a heads-up if they were suddenly going to pluck Usagi from right under our noses."

            "Could it be a new enemy?" Makoto said, entering the room and setting the tray she carried on the coffee table next to Ami. Ami looked up, smiled gratefully at Makoto, and took a cookie from the plate.

            "Rei hasn't sensed any dark activity, and the computer can't pick anything up, so I highly doubt it." Makoto glanced to the corner of the room, where Minako slumped against the wall, staring blankly into space.

            "Minako-chan? Would you like some cookies?" Makoto asked kindly, a concerned expression on her face. Minako didn't speak, nor did she look at Makoto. She only shook her head, ignoring Artemis as he weaved around her, trying to get a reaction.

            Makoto and Ami exchanged looks. After calling the Outer Senshi and discovering that Setsuna, too, had gone missing, Minako had gone into shock, sitting around in a depressed half-stupor, not even responding to Rei, who, after Usagi, was her best friend.

            "Rei can't locate her energy." the trio looked up to the door, where stood a panicked Haruka. "And Michiru just contacted Koneko's family. By the looks of things, Usagi Tsukino never existed."

~*~

            "Where are you taking us?" Frodo asked as he struggled to keep up with Strider. It was quite obvious where the man got his nickname from. The other hobbits trailed behind wearily, Usagi bringing up the end, mutely battling with a twisted ankle. She was beginning to wish she had never insisted that she come on this journey. _Not like I can do much else,_ Usagi grumbled mentally. _These people are my only friends here in… wherever this is._

            "Into the wild," was Strider's simple answer to Frodo's query. The group once again fell silent.

            "How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf's?" Merry whispered to Frodo.

            "We have no choice but to trust him," Frodo replied, sending a glance back to Usagi. Usagi quickly decoded it. They had no choice but to trust her, either.

            "But where is he leading us?" Sam said, slightly loudly.

            "To Rivendell, Master Gamgee," Strider offered. "The House of Elrond."

            "Did you hear that?  Rivendell! We're going to see the elves!" Sam exclaimed, ecstatic. _Elves, too?_ Usagi blinked, surprised. _Elves and hobbits. What next, dwarves?_

            The group made their way through the forest trails (not without Pippin's alarm that Strider would not let them stop for Second Breakfast) and soon came to rest in the shadow of a tall hill with ruins at the summit.

            "This was the great watchtower of Amon Sul. We shall rest here tonight," Strider said. Usagi let out a relieved sigh and collapsed where she stood, dropping the pack she had been assigned to carry. Strider opened a bundle he had been carrying and extracted four short swords, which he distributed amongst the hobbits. "These are for you, keep them close. I'm going to have a look around. Stay here." With that he walked off, quickly disappearing into the woods.

~*~*~*~

A/N: I wuv you all. ^_^ You guys are the greatest!

The "rabid squirrel" analogy belongs to Usa-chan, and will NEVER get old.

Thanks:

**Skittles the Sugar Fairy** (Wow, you reviewed fast! It was like, BOOM! I have my first review! Thanks! As for the time period… I guess somewhere after Stars…)**; Invisible Rain **(::blush:: Doomo! ^x^ I'm rather fond of Chance myself…^_^)**; koldy; liza** (Now, now, that would be telling! ^_~)**; Chibi Pyro Duo **(I'm glad someone besides me is getting frustrated with the lack of quality and ICness in these sections lately… -.-* Thanks for the encouragement! ^o^)**; angelwings6117** (I know, refreshing change from betrayal fics, innit? -,-* Had a bit too much of those. ^_^ Love ya!)**; anya; Amy!; Black Aura-Sama** (I'm getting all choked up inside… seriously! Your review is making so happy I could cry!)**; bright star shine; JeRee; Jess S1; DaughterofDeath; weaver; minnieshon** (no it most emphatically will not! I will leave no stone left uncovered, and no string left untied! The senshi will most definitely be making more appearances as the story progresses.)**; Sarah** (Usagi-chan will change, in time. After all, stories usually center around change, ne? ^-^)**; Mary**

And to **Janina Evans**. You rule! ;-P

Also, my website is finally up after eons of inactivity. Please go visit it, I'll be eternally greatful! . (I'm Riru, BTW.)


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Oy. I am awful. I'm glad so many of you like my original character, Chance… but as you will soon find out, she's a bit more familiar than you think. ;P

**The Tangled Web We Weave**

_Chapter Two

* * *

_

Frodo was asleep, and the other three hobbits were huddled around the fire they had just built, cooking up a nice meal. Usagi could already feel her mouth watering. Although, she had to wonder at the wisdom of building a fire when they were on the run from those… Nazgul thingies.

"Would you like some meat, Miss Usagi?" asked Sam. Usagi nodded her head enthusiastically. She was intensely hungry. She was tossed a sausage and a plump red tomato, which she consumed eagerly within seconds.

"Where could Strider be, I wonder," Pippin said, standing up and straining his eyes to peer into the forest. It had been an hour or two since their guide had left to go scouting, and there was still no sign of him. He couldn't have just left them, Usagi reasoned. _But who am I to judge. For all I know, _he _could be the one working for this Mordor-person._ Usagi shook the thought from her head and turned her eyes to rest on the hobbits huddled around the fire. Merry was shoving Pippin, who had obviously just done something stupid, as usual.

He reminded her of Minako in that way: they were both constantly chipper, and always seemed to find some way to put their foot in their mouth. Then again, Pippin reminded Usagi of herself as well.

"Ungh…" Usagi's attention was drawn to Frodo, who was waking. Once he was conscious enough to be aware of his surroundings, he gasped. "Put it out, you fools! Put it out!" he cried, stepping on the fire to smother it.

"Well that's nice!" Merry said sarcastically. His protest, however, was ignored as the horrible keening screams filled the air. The group shared a horror-struck glance. Fumbling for their swords, the hobbits surrounded the weaponless Usagi, making it easier for them to defend her.

"Shouldn't you be protecting Frodo?" Usagi hissed. Frodo shook his head.

"Don't worry about me, Miss Usagi," he said. Usagi frowned mentally. If it came down to it, she could probably transform into Sailor Moon— but what effect would her attacks have on the Nazgul-thingies? Worse, how would she explain it to the hobbits and Strider, assuming, of course, that they made it out of this battle alive?

"Up to the ruins," Frodo said, backing up the steep set of steps that lead to the ruins on the summit of the hill. The rest followed, keeping Usagi protected in their formation. They reached the top quickly, but Usagi quickly evaluated that it was not wise to have confined themselves to the ruins. Five Nazgul mounted the hill, surrounding the group as they wailed in their unnatural voices. Each Nazgul had a long sword in their hands. Usagi shuddered, an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt as if the Nazgul's darkness was eating at her from the inside out, making her feel faint. Usagi fell to her knees, swooning, as Sam charged at the nearest Nazgul. The hobbit was tossed aside, as were Merry and Pippin when they too stood against the monsters. Frodo backed away from Nazgul as it approached him, stumbling backwards until his back was pressed against a fallen column. In his flurry of motion, he had dropped his sword and was now staring at the Nazgul with wide eyes drowned in fear. After a second he fumbled with something in his pocket, pulling out… a ring? ((A/N: Sorry, I know I said it was on a chain in the last chapter, but he doesn't actually get the chain until Rivendell… thanks to angelwings6117 for pointing that out!)) Usagi recalled Strider saying something about a ring back in Bree when he was talking about the Nazgul. She hadn't really been paying attention, as it seemed too much like a history lesson. _If we survive this, _Usagi said to herself, closing her eyes tightly as the Nazgul approaching Frodo drew a long, wicked-looking dagger,_ I swear to Selene that I will pay more attention in school. And a whole lot more attention to what Strider says._ She opened her eyes in time to see Frodo slip on the ring and disapp— disappear! Still the Nazgul moved forward, and then it lunged, eliciting a pained scream from what was obviously Frodo.

It was so sudden that Usagi almost missed it as she lost consciousness: Strider, sword and a flaming torch in hand, flew at the Nazgul from somewhere behind Frodo. Usagi sighed with relief, and let darkness claim her.

* * *

Minako let out a strangled cry at Haruka's announcement, throwing herself forward to hug her knees. Makoto immediately stepped over to the blonde, trying to soothe the girl's muffled sobs.

"What do you mean Haruka?" asked Ami numbly. She had dropped the cookie she was holding. Haruka shook her head.

"No one remembers her, not the Tsukinos or Furuhata-kun, or Osaka-chan, or Yuuichirou-san. We're the only ones who remember that Usagi Tsukino existed. And that being the case, neither did Sailor Moon or the Sailor Senshi," Haruka said.

"How is it possible that the Sailor Senshi didn't exist? Sailor Moon I could understand, since she missing and all, but we're still here, right?" Makoto asked, looking up from comforting Minako. Haruka shrugged, and Ami just looked dumbfounded.

"Don't you get it? Without Usagi-chan here to bring us together, we never became the Sailor Senshi team. I would have stayed in England, Michiru and Haruka would have stayed out of the way, the other Inners wouldn't have known they were the Senshi, and none of the enemies would have attacked Earth looking for the Ginzuishou, because it didn't exist either," Minako cried hoarsely, tears still in her eyes. "Usagi Tsukino never existed for us, either. I'm surprised we haven't forgotten her yet, and I'm assuming we will eventually, which means we don't have much time to find out what happened to her and bring her back. If we can, that is."

* * *

Destiny sat down in front of her loom, thinking hard. She couldn't undo the silver string from the tapestry without destroying mortal life. It was one of the few restrictions of a self-weaving loom: once a string had been introduced into the pattern, the "mind" of the loom incorporated that string with the final outcome of the tapestry. If she cut it short, other strings in the tapestry that were supposed to weave around that string would collapse, followed by the entire tapestry. She couldn't very well just let the silver string continue with that pattern, as it was still connected with the first tapestry by a handful of the more brightly colored strings. She could sew them all together, but that would produce such a shock for the strings still connected to the silver one that the mortals whose lives were connected to those strings would be permanently damaged. If she could only warn them somehow, they'd have a chance…

A chance. Bingo. Destiny had sent Chance into the first tapestry for a short time before, as an experiment. The results had been favorable. Destiny rose from her chair and went to her door.

"Mother!" she called, hopefully. "Can I borrow Chance, please?"

Unseen by Destiny, a gold string slipped away from the silver one, falling to the ground as if lonely.

* * *

Mamoru blinked. Where was he? A shrine of some sort, he supposed. He was in a small room, a roaring fire situated in the middle. A girl in a miko's garb kneeled before the fire, staring into its dancing depths with an intensity that Mamoru had not often seen on the face of one so young. She seemed to be only around seventeen. After a moment, she broke her gaze and sighed, turning to Mamoru.

"It's no use, Mamoru-kun, I can't find her anywhere," she said.

"Find who?" Mamoru asked, frowning. "Who are you? Where am I?" The miko stared at him hard.

"This is no time to joke, Mamoru-kun," she reprimanded. Mamoru was beginning to get annoyed with this child.

"Who's joking? Now could you please tell me where I am, so that I can find my way home? I don't even _want_ to know how I got here," he replied. The miko's eyes widened.

"You— you mean, you really don't remember?" she stuttered. Mamoru rolled his eyes.

"Remember _what_?" he demanded, exasperated. The miko jumped up, startling Mamoru, and rushed to the sliding paper door. She threw it open in a frenzy.

"Minna-chan, we have an emergency!"

* * *

"You know what to do?" Destiny asked for the fiftieth time. Chance nodded. Destiny bit her lip and tied a white string loosely around Chance's waist. Chance wriggled happily. More strings! What fun!

Destiny tied the other end of the string tightly around the strings of the older tapestry.

"Good luck, Chance," Destiny said. "And remember, if you ruin _anything_, I will kill you." Chance giggled and disappeared as Destiny finished tying the last knot. "You're our only chance, Chibichibi."

* * *

Mamoru Chiba looked around at the girls that inspected him, fidgeting nervously. There were six surrounding him, with a seventh (a slightly-familiar blonde) standing off in a corner.

"So," Mamoru began. "Let me get this straight. A bunch of teenaged girls want me to believe that I am the reincarnated prince of Earth, and that my fiancée, who is from the _moon_, no less, has simply disappeared from the face of the planet?" Mamoru shook his head. "I knew the miko was a psycho from the beginning, but now I think you're all insane." Before any of the girls could stop him, he stalked off, removing himself from the Hikawa Shrine in the blink of an eye.

"Well," said Makoto, "now what?"

And that was when the diminutive yet familiar form of Chibichibi fell from the sky, gurgling happily as she knocked a few people, namely the senshi, to the ground.

* * *

For the first time in weeks Usagi felt warm. That was the first thought that occurred to her as she began to regain consciousness. It was almost as if someone was carrying her.

"Mamo-chan…?" she queried blearily.

"Strider, what's a mamochan?" asked a hobbit. It took Usagi a moment to realize the voice belonged to Pippin. It took a moment longer for her to realize that Mamoru was not present. Then who…?

"I am not quite sure," Strider replied, his voice directly above Usagi's head. _Well,_ Usagi thought, blushing slightly, _that answers _that_ question_. Strider continued. "Miss Usagi, are you awake?"

"Um… yes?" Usagi said, wincing as her response came out in a squeak. Strider shifted slightly, and Usagi looked up at his face, cheeks still tinged pink. Strider's face was serious, though the corners of his mouth turned upwards ever-so-slightly.

"Are you able to walk? You have been unconscious for two days."

"I think so, I… two _days_?" Usagi gasped, eyes widening as Strider set her calmly on her feet. She paused for a moment. "Nevermind… I don't really want to know." She looked around at her companions: Sam was glaring at Merry and Pippin, who were playing a game of tag while Sam was loaded down with the brunt of the supplies. Usagi frowned.

"Where's Frodo?" she asked worriedly. She was met with silence. _Oh, no…

* * *

_

A/N: GOMEEEN NASAAAAAAAIIIII:bows repeatedly: I can't believe I haven't done anything on this since last year! Next I will be updating _Phantom_ again, as I am stuck on CFE. Please read it if you're interested! Thanks:

**rebekah; Skittles the Sugar Fairy; Invisible Rain** (I'm mostly using the movies, as I haven't finished reading the books, either. :sweatdrop: I'm just lazy that way, I guess.)**; sailorsunandchildofthesun; angelwings6117** (Oops. Gah! I should have realized that:bangs head against wall: Stupid, stupid, stupid!) **liza; Shinia** (Yeah… and she still doesn't know what Mordor is, in spite of all kinds of spying and eavesdropping… :sweatdrop:) **Chibi Pyro Duo** (Again, credit Usa-chan with the rabid squirrel comment! Hehe… that's one of my best friend's favorite quotes, too.)**; Black Aura-Sama** (:is barreled over by glomp: Eheh… :huggles back: Deranged can be a good thing, sometimes! XP)**; Daughter of Death; koldy; Crystal-Winter** (I hope this one doesn't turn you off SM/LotR ficcies, then! I will pretty much be explaining everything in this fic, so you won't have to worry about not knowing anything about LotR.)**; Amy; Silly Smiles** (Hm… Usagi and the hobbits cooking… :lightbulb ping: Ideeaa…)**; krazy pandi; ElvenSailorGirl** (As I mentioned before, haven't finished the books yet, so I'm going by the movie… :has entire transcripts of FotR, TT, and RotK close at hand for reference:)**; Mayoujou; Shadowed1 **(Accuracy is mandatory for me. What with Usa-chan as my neechan, it's hard not to be accurate… :sweatdrop:) **Linauri; Nyoko; Sailor Dark Angel; rose; Saiyajin-Neko; Sunshine Fia** (:smirk: You'll just have to read and find out who she ends up with.)**; Repori**


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